Erik Ten Hag will take over as the manager of Manchester United but the question remains if he will be able to turn things around for the club.
It is no news that the former Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag has signed for Manchester United and will take charge of the team as from next season.
Erik Ten Hag won the Dutch league with Ajax in this concluded season but lost in a cup final to PSV Eindhoven.
The former Ajax manager is known for his attacking style of play with the principle of Johan Cruyff style of play.
Let us take a look at the playing days of Erik Ten Hag to know how successful he was when he was a player.
Ten Hag played primarily as a centre-back for Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and Utrecht. He had three stints with Twente, with whom he won the KNVB Cup in the 2000–01 season.
Ten Hag also won the Eerste Divisie with De Graafschap in the 1990–91 season, ten years before winning the cup with Twente. He retired from active playing in 2002 at the age of 32 while playing for Twente, after the end of the 2001–02 Eredivisie season.
Though he might have not achieved so much has a player but one thing remains that he is surely a winner.
Let’s quickly take a look at his managerial career and what he has achieved so far as a manager.
In 2012, Ten Hag was appointed as manager of Go Ahead Eagles in the Eerste Divisie by Marc Overmars, who was a shareholder of the club.[1][4] During his only season at Go Ahead Eagles, he led the team to its first promotion in 17 years.
He coached Bayern Munich II from 6 June 2013 until 2015 when he was replaced by Heiko Vogel. During his time as manager Ten Hag led his team to the Regionalliga Bayern.
Ten Hag then became the sporting director and head coach of Utrecht in summer 2015, where he led the club to fifth place during his first season. In the 2016–17 season, he improved FC Utrecht’s final position to fourth, booking a place in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.
Ten Hag was appointed as the head coach of Ajax on 21 December 2017 after the club dismissed Marcel Keizer. In 2019, he led his Ajax team to the semi-finals of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1997.
He won his first managerial trophy with Ajax on 5 May 2019, the 2018–19 KNVB Cup, beating Willem II in the final. Only 10 days after winning the cup, Ajax, led by Ten Hag won the Eredivisie as well after a 1–4 away victory over De Graafschap and brought the double back to the club.
Ten Hag guided Ajax on 18 April 2021 to their record extending 20th KNVB Cup with a 2–1 win over Vitesse in the final.
With the background history of Erik Ten Hag, it clearly shows that he is a winner a manager that can improve a club through is philosophy.
On the other hand, Manchester United are not in good shape as the players play like they do not have passion to play for the club.
Since the retirement of the great Sir Alex Ferguson at the club only few managers have lifted a silverware for the club but none of them have lifted the Premier League or the Champions League.
With the current state of the team, it is going to be a huge job for the Dutch to turn things around for the club.
We are of the opinion that Erik Ten Hag with his philosophy and his achievement so far can transform the club for better but the club and fans will have to be patient with the Dutch.
